CD REVIEW: STEVE HILL – Solo Recordings Volume 3

Shane | 10 June 2016 | Reply

CD REVIEW: STEVE HILL – Solo Recordings Volume 3
Independant
4 March, 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8 ½ /10

Canadian blues is like, so freakin’ hot right now – Bill Durst, Angel Forrest, Jake Chisholm, Sean Pinchin and more have received great reviews from us just in the past month or two, and there’s plenty more out there too.

Steve Hill’s latest shows why he scored big at the 2015 Maple Blues Awards, walking away with the Electric Act, Entertainer and Guitarist of the Year awards.

Raw and dangerous, this third volume of solo tracks are TRULY solo – Hill is literally a one-man band, singing & playing standing up, whilst playing bass drum, snare and hi-hats with foot pedals and smashing anything else within reach with a drumstick fused to his guitar head.

The ‘one man band’ trope may seem a little gimmickey, but Hill knows exactly what he’s doing, and his is a cheese-free zone: Steve Hill’s blues rock – and with a generous serve of soul.

From the arse kicking blues rock of Damned and Dangerous, the smoulderingly heavy Still A Fool & A Rollin’ Stone, through to the rootsy folk of Slowly Slipping Away, Hill never fails to impress with his diversity, skills and the sheer talent involved in playing drums and guitar and singing at the same time. Smoking Hot Machine throws a searing harmonica into the mix, and by the time you get through the twelfth song and album closer Walkin’ Grave, all we can think of is, ‘when will Steve Hill tour Australia?’